March 13, 2004

The Cleveland State men's golf team opened up the spring portion of the 2003-04 season Saturday at the Austin Peay Big Red Classic, carding a two-round score of 620 (311-309) at the Lake Diamond Golf and Country Club. The Vikings currently stand in 14th-place at the par 72 course in Ocala, Fla.

Freshman Mike Rutgers (Kingsville, Ontario/Cardinal Carter) paced the CSU scorers on the opening day, shooting a 148 (73-75) for a 15th-place tie overall. Senior Billy Houle (Joilette, Quebec/Georges Vanier) finds himself eight strokes behind Rutgers with a 156 (77-79), while freshman Ben Grandy (Southgate, Mich./Gabriel Richard) is nine shots off the Viking leader with a 157 (82-75).

Methodist College (584) holds a two-stroke edge over Florida Atlantic (586) despite the play of FAU freshman Torstein Naevestad, who leads the field with a 3-under 141 (72-69).

The third and final round gets under way Sunday morning.